Dr. Michael

The presentation discusses high power monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC) power amplifier (PA) design in Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) and Gallium Nitride (GaN). At a high level, GaN vs GaAs semiconductor technology from the perspective of PA design metrics is analyzed to help determine the relative advantages and disadvantages of each technology. This is followed with an introduction of the most prevalent MMIC design topologies for the bulk of microwave matched, non-uniform distributed, balanced, push-pull, Doherty and serially combined. Following introduction of the main topologies, the presentation focuses on the potential pitfalls the MMIC designer can encounter with detailed discussion on how to avoid them with the goal of first past design success.